For many years, pet owners, especially dog owners, and trainers have used the training collar and leash as the standard method of obedience training. The correction is accomplished by simply pulling or jerking on the dog's leash. Many dog owners, motivated by a fear of injuring the dog, have a tendency to correct the dog with mild jerks. This method of correction may require several hundred jerks to correct the dog's behavior. Professional trainers tend not to be similarly burdened and have a tendency of jerking the dog much harder than the owner, and are able to correct the dog's behavior with a minimum of jerks on the leash. Large dogs in excess of a hundred pounds body weight present a special problem. Namely, some dog owners weigh less than the dog and do not have the strength to jerk the leash hard enough to provide a meaningful correction to the dog.
The fundamental problem with conventional leash training is the inherent inconsistency in delivery of the corrective stimulus. For any given dog, the magnitude and frequency of the corrective stimulus is dependent upon the nature of the person delivering the stimulus. This lack of consistency in the magnitude and frequency of the corrective stimulus certainly has the potential for being, and is believed to be, confusing to the dog. This is especially true when both the professional trainer and the pet owner are jerking the leash in different ways during the same period of training.
Other devices for training animals have been previously disclosed. Typical of the art are those devices disclosed in the following patents:
______________________________________ Country Pat. No. Inventor(s) Issue Date ______________________________________ U.S. 3,874,339 Coulbourn Apr. 1, 1975 Sweden 113,556 Petersson Mar. 20, 1945 ______________________________________
The '339 patent discloses an anti-pull leash mechanism for attachment to a dog collar. Coulboum's collar attachment includes at least one electrode for delivering an electric shock to a dog. The mechanism is spring activated such that as the dog strains against the leash, a spring switch closes an electrical circuit, thus delivering an electric pulse to the electrodes. Likewise, the '556 patent shows a dog collar with electrical probes on the interior thereof. These probes are manually operated by switch contacts in the leash handle. The power pack and shock circuitry are carried by the person walking the dog. While these types of devices address the problem associated with differing magnitudes of corrective stimuli, few owners desire repetitive shock treatment for a loved pet.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a leash collar having a behavior reinforcement module that is activated by a control module mounted proximate the handle of the leash.
A further object of the present invention is to utilize a behavior reinforcement module that emits a corrective stimulus consisting of an electrical stimulus coupled with an audible warning sound such that, through repetition, the animal will associate with the audible warning sound with the electrical stimulus permitting the audible warning sound to deter prohibited actions by the animal.
Still a further object of the present invention is to provide such a leash having a negative reinforcement delivery system utilizing a programmable intensity level such that a trainer can tailor the magnitude of the electrical stimulus to the size and pain threshold of the dog.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a training leash that is readily adaptable to other proven correction techniques, such as ultrasonic sound or spray.
Other objects and advantages over the prior art will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading the detailed description together with the drawings as described as follows.